I once read, in a book about Roberto Clemente, that he was the kind of guy who, when you'd ask how he's doing, he'd actually tell you. Meaning, when someone politely offered a how-are-you, he'd offer up a mini-monologue on the matter.
I've always liked those kinds. Because they're really just truth-tellers, filter-free flaws and all.
I've always liked that in Kris Letang.
So, on the eve of this, the 53rd season of Pittsburgh's beloved NHL franchise with a 7:08 p.m. Thursday faceoff against the Sabres at PPG Paints Arena, I sat at the stall next to his and sought some of that truth-telling from the best source this locker room's got. Starting with this: What, if anything, has really changed since the last time we saw the Penguins?
Meaning, um, this ...
"I think we had time to clear our heads, maybe, look ahead a little," Letang began. "We've made some changes, obviously. And I think that sent a message to the players in this room that there's a window to win. That we don't have time to waste."
A window?
Whoa, no one ever acknowledges a window in professional sports. If anything, it's precisely the opposite. Even within this building.
I mentioned that back, and Letang looked incredulous.
"I mean, what am I supposed to say? How many organizations are gonna have players the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin? Some organizations never had one guy like that. We know what we have here. We know how lucky we are. We know we don't have forever to take advantage of it."
Predictably, that's the truth. Every syllable. A compelling case can be made that Crosby's still "the best 200-foot player in the game," as Mike Sullivan loves to call him, and he's done as much as anyone in the league to age-adjust his game ... but he's 32. An almost-as-compelling case can be made that Malkin's still capable of elite point production, even if he's done as little as anyone in the league to age-adjust his game ... but he's 33.
And that's to say nothing of Letang himself, fresh off arguably the finest regular season of his career ... but now 32.
"I feel good," he'd go on. "I haven't changed anything about my conditioning, my approach."
His game, maybe?
"My game?" he shot back with a classic scoff. "You don't change your game at this level. Players are who they are. You can get better, be smarter, but you don't change your game."
Told you.
And now I'll tell you this: That kind of worries me. A lot of this scene does at the moment, my own truth be told.
Questions, questions, questions ...
• How long can Sid lug the load?
Crosby's Crosby. He's all that and so much more.
But maybe the coldest fact facing this franchise for the foreseeable future is that, after a decade and a half, it'll still sink or swim based on how he fares. That's not to suggest he lacks a supporting cast or that the roster lacks vital youth, especially when there's a 24-year-old, 40-goal sniper on his left flank. But it is to suggest that, after a lifetime of being the guy on every single team, he's still tasked with being that.
I don't think that'll slow this winter. I really don't. But I do look around the league at a dozen or so young franchise-type forwards and wonder how different the Penguins would feel with one of those, with a linchpin star in the fold.
• Malkin's Malkin, too, but what's that mean now?
I'm on record as not having liked his preseason. Not because preseason performance matters, as that'd be the silliest of stances. But rather, because I saw not the slightest change in any of the poor possession habits that drove Sullivan, Jim Rutherford and others in the organization rightfully batty for the better part of last season. It's what drove them to openly, publicly threaten to trade him when it was done, a once-unthinkable concept. And, to be fair, it's resulted in a whole lot of vocal determination and visible hustle. But it'll take action. It'll take making more mature decisions with the puck, first and foremost, or he'll never have it enough to score.
We'll see. Open mind. Maybe he'll buzz around like a vintage-aged, Selke-brand Sergei Fedorov against Buffalo.
• Who'll stay back?
Pittsburgh being Pittsburgh, I can't reference Letang without everyone's mind immediately shifting to a couple stupid mistakes in that sweep by the Islanders. And that's fair. If we could all praise his dominance in the 2009 and 2016 championships, when he rose up like few others, we can emphasize when he didn't.
But Sullivan couldn't have made clearer, all summer long and then through every drill of camp, every shift of every exhibition, that he won't tolerate the Penguins being the NHL's very worst at conceding odd-man breaks, as they were last season. Before one practice the other morning in Cranberry, he barked out at his players that they'd given up five the previous night in an exhibition. Which means he was counting ... in an exhibition.
It's got to change. Not in a month. Not in a week. But right here in these first four games, all at home. This is where the tone can get set in that regard, that the most striking change can be implemented.
• What's the bench going to do about it?
Because yeah, this might mean less pinching. And that isn't on Letang or any other defenseman, but on Sullivan and Jacques Martin. Coach the roster you've got, not the one you wish you had. Figure it out.
Patric Hornqvist. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS• Why does no one seem to expect more from Patric Hornqvist?
Look, no one loves the guy's game more than I do. In the flattest of efforts for the team on a given night, he's the only player -- including Crosby -- who gets a universal pass here, as his passion is never to be questioned. But he's coming off a career-low 18-goal season, he missed 13 games to injury and was hobbled through several others, and that can't cut it for a $6 million cap hit.
He's expected to be the big jolt and all that, but his biggest jolts come when he scores. And if, at age 32, he's on the downhill side of that facet of his game, that's a gigantic concern in the short and long terms.
• Which Alex Galchenyuk will show?
The happy-go-lucky gifted sniper? Or the can't-be-bothered-to-backcheck underachiever who's now worn out two welcomes?
It's a contract year, which is terrific for the Penguins. It's also an "unbelievable opportunity" to skate alongside Malkin, as Galchenyuk himself was gushing a few days ago. It's also a chance at yet another clean slate, away from the immense pressure in Montreal and ... well, the polar opposite in Glendale. But he's got to make the most of it, and that means he'll have to do more than ride shotgun on offense and let the designated right winger on the line do all the dirty work.
Reserving the right to remain skeptical.
• Who'll replace Phil Kessel on the power play?
I know the people, but I'm talking about the pipeline. Because, unrealized as it was by many, most plays ran through his creativity off the left half-wall, at least until he curiously stopped shooting, at which point goaltenders could cheat toward the pass. He also functioned as a wild-card rover on occasion, driving opposing coaches -- and occasionally his own -- crazy with that ... but it worked way more often than not.
That's not a plug-and-play fit for anyone, including Galchenyuk, the player for whom he was traded.
If Sullivan's serious about sticking with two defensemen on the points -- sounds like he is -- then that leaves three spots for Crosby, Malkin and one of Guentzel, Hornqvist or Galchenyuk. No one right now knows how that'll pan out. No one at all, including Sullivan.
This, I'm thinking, will take time. And probably no small amount of frustration along the path.
• Was enough energy added?
Skeptical on this count, too. Brandon Tanev's already been everything that Winnipeg fans embraced over the years, a dogged, relentless, fast and surprisingly skilled windstorm. But he, Guentzel, Jared McCann and now-injured Bryan Rust still stand out too much in this category. It still doesn't feel like the super-fast, in-your-face team that Sullivan craves.
This is where, ideally, the youth element would be infused, but the promising recent draft won't pay dividends for years, the younger guys who are here -- Teddy Blueger, Zach Aston-Reese -- aren't that fast, and Adam Johnson, my primary hope to make that kind of impact this season, remains as thin as one of Marcus Pettersson's arms.
Which leads seamlessly into ...
• Enough mobility on the blue line?
I'm all in on Pettersson and delighted he's getting his deserved chance on the top-four. Along with Letang, Brian Dumoulin and Justin Schultz, another contract-year qualifier, it's a good group. I'm also behind Erik Gudbranson, who's rightly proud of some literal strides he's made in his skating this summer, and at least enticed by the early returns from John Marino, the latest Edmonton refugee.
But in watching the Stanley Cup playoffs this past spring, I saw blue lines that would dominate through motion. The Hurricanes, for example, overcame a host of other shortcomings just through this. That's where the NHL's long been headed and, while it's not exactly lacking here, it's also not a strength. Nor, for that matter, is any youth on the way here, either.
• What of Matt Murray?
Nothing matters more in the playoffs, of course, than the standard hot goaltender. Murray's been that in the past, and he showed in the second half of last season that he can be that again. On top of that, I respect where he's keeping his head in his own contract year. He looks, sounds and feels ready for all of it.
Don't wait for a concern, complaint or criticism on this one. I've got none.
And no, I don't mean to come across as a buzzkill with all the rest, either. Honestly, this is a good hockey team capable of competing with anyone in the NHL on any night and eminently capable of contending in the Metro. If that power play, in particular, can become special, they've got the potential to be very good.
But the bar in Pittsburgh for hockey is set higher than very good.
For now. Better join the rush.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins practice, PPG Paints Arena - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS